4w 2d - Second Blood Test Results

Numbers are great! The pregnancy hormone, hCG, has more than doubled in just over 48 hours! When the nurse told me the news, my heart was pounding because I was so excited. Here are my values at 15 DPO:

• hCG: 819
• progesterone: 31

4w 1d - "Special K" This Week

• Implantation is complete. Your future baby has now reached beneath the lining of your uterus and growth is rapid. Your baby is now called an embryo. The embryo is still about 0.05 inches (1.25mm) long. It is deeply embedded in your uterus.
• It is now possible to identify the fold of skin that will become your baby's head. A heart forming plate has developed and the central nervous system, muscles and bone are in the early stages of development. Your baby's heart has started beating. The brain, spine and beginnings of the nervous system are forming.
• By the end of this month, your baby will resemble a tiny tadpole, barely the size of a grain of rice. A distinct organization, however, is becoming visible. There is a stripe down the back of the embryo which is curling over to form a groove which will seal up to form the neural tube. This will turn into the spinal cord and brain. The top of the tube is flattening out and expanding to form the front part of the brain.
• The placenta, which will provide nourishment to your developing baby later in your pregnancy, is not yet formed. Right now your baby is nourished from you via hundreds of tiny "roots" that cover the amniotic sac. The nourishment is channeled from you to your baby from these roots through a stalk that will become the umbilical cord. The placenta will begin its development this week. It will form in the site that the fertilized egg attached to the lining of your uterus at the time of implantation. A bulge is developing where your baby's heart will be and the blood vessels are growing into place.

Source: http://preg.fertilityfriend.com

The Tangible, At-Home Proof

You can barely see the second lines, but they are there!!

I didn't want to believe the first test. I didn't use a timer, and the results are unreliable after 10 minutes. It was so early in the morning! I kind of believed it, but was in such shock. I truly was in the mindset that we would be going down the road of fertility testing for at least a few more cycles before getting another BFP. So, I decided that if my BBT was still up on the 30th, and still no AF spotting, that I would test again. And whammo! I got an even darker line, wahoo!!!! (If you ever need help with my jargon, please see the abbreviation link on the right hand side.)

4w 0d - Blood Test Results

I almost forgot! Yesterday I went to the AMC lab to get blood drawn. Dr Bateman's office ordered hCG (human chorionic gonadotropins) and progesterone. My levels are great, and I go back tomorrow to test again. HCG should double every 48-72 hours in early pregnancy. Please pray for the doubling! Dr Bateman's office likes to see progesterone over 10 or 15. The values at 13 DPO were as follows:

• hCG: 298 mIU/ml (milli International Units per milli-liter)
• progesterone: 29 ng/ml (I think that is the correct unit)

4w 0d - 4 Weeks 0 Days

To just find out you're pregnant, it's odd to say "I'm 4 weeks pregnant!" But such is the way the medical community needs to number pregnancy weeks. Did you know that numbering this way means there are actually 40 weeks of pregnancy? That's ten months instead of nine! Actually I've only technically been preganant for only 2 weeks, so it's really not ten months of pregnancy. It's just how "they" have to number it. They mark gestational age the same way, even though Special K is only 2 weeks old right now. If you really are interested to know the full explanation on this numbering scheme, let me know.

Whew.

On to the news. One can often see a heartbeat on an ultrasound at 6w 3d. Ours is scheduled for May 18. Oh God please let there be a strong heartbeat! (Our first baby died at 6 weeks and we never saw a heartbeat.) I'll have to remember, though, that it's possible we won't see a heartbeat and all might still be OK.